


After the Shock and Smoke Clears

by books_entertain_the_mind



Series: Our New Normal [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friday Is A Child, Parent Pepper Potts, Parent Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 09:50:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18050246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/books_entertain_the_mind/pseuds/books_entertain_the_mind
Summary: Tony and Pepper have come to terms with the fact that they're now parents to a toddler. Now they just have to learn how to be parents.





	After the Shock and Smoke Clears

“How about Rowan?”

Pepper looked up from her laptop and her progress in creating and legalizing all the paperwork needed for their newly discovered three year-old daughter. The last piece that needed added was her new name. While Friday had slept on Tony’s chest, the two adults began discussing in more detail what had happened and what needed to be done, moving forward.

They both had already fallen in love the this tiny human version of Friday and agreed that the best thing to do was make everything look as real as they could and pretend they had kept their kid hidden for the last four years.

One of the first things the discovered after Friday had fallen asleep is that whatever magic turned her human also brought Jarvis back from AI Heaven and instantly reinstalled him into the house and all the computer systems.

If Tony shed a tear at hearing his old friend’s voice again, Pepper said nothing.

Having Jarvis up and running took a lot of pressure off of Tony and Pepper too. He ran a quick scan and was able to determine that Friday was now roughly 3 and a half years-old. He also began ordering supplies for a toddler of that age, having a small amount of essentials such as clothes, diapers, and pull-ups arriving that evening and everything else arriving in a couple days. He had been assisting Pepper in getting all of Friday’s paperwork in order.

That brought them to where the were now. Pepper was sitting on the couch in their living room with her computer next to her. Tony was sitting on the floor by her feet and trying to help Friday choose PJ’s for the night and a stuffed animal for her as well, because according to Pepper, every little kid needs a stuffed animal.

They were sitting there trying to think of a new name for Friday, because they both agreed that ‘Friday’ isn’t the best name for a child, especially when so many people know that Friday is, or was, their AI.

Pepper closed her laptop and smiled over at Tony and Friday. “Why Rowan?”

Tony looked up from Friday’s concentration on her clothes and over to his wife. “Rowan is Irish and means ‘Red hair’. She has your hair and was programmed to sound Irish before. It seems perfect.”

Pepper hummed, thinking it over. “Rowan Stark… Rowan Stark.” She moved over to join the two of them on the floor and put her head on Tony’s shoulder. “I like it. It flows better than all of our other ideas so far.”

Tony grinned and pressed a kiss to Pepper’s temple. “Yeah? I think it really works.”

Pepper nodded. “I think so too. What about her middle name?”

“How does Rowan Virginia Stark sound?”

“Or Rowan Maria Stark.”

Tony hummed. “I love that you want to honor my mom, but I want Friday to have both of us in her name. I think Rowan Virginia Stark will work great.”

Pepper’s heart melted at Tony’s comment. She couldn’t help but lean over and give him a short kiss. She loved that he wanted Friday to have her name. “Alright, Rowan Virginia Stark it is.”

Tony smiled. “Good,” he said and leaned in to give her another kiss, but was interrupted by a tug on the bottom of his shirt. Tony and Pepper both turned to see Friday holding a pair of dark blue PJs with stars scattered around in different constellations. She held them up for Tony to take and then turned to show Pepper the stuffed animal she picked. It was a soft and furry brown dog with black and white spots speckled all over.

Pepper held the dog that Friday presented her with. “Is this the one you want, honey?”

Friday gave a small smile and nodded before turning back to Tony and pointing to the pajamas in his hands. She still wasn’t talking, and honestly, she hasn’t put much focus into attempting to form and speak any words. Tony said she didn’t have to right away, so she was just focusing on taking in everything from this point of view and getting used to this body she now had. So, she was content with pointing and gestures to get her thoughts across.

Tony smiled at the little girl. “Are these the ones you want to wear tonight, baby girl?”

Friday nodded and crawled back into his lap. She didn’t completely understand why, but somewhere in her subconscious says that the closer she is to her creator, the safer she is and doesn’t have to worry. She also doesn’t understand why she feels so much comfort when Tony is holding her, but she wasn’t going to question it and instead just stay as close to the man as she could.

Tony chuckled as he wrapped his arms around his daughter. _His daughter, he has a daughter!_ He looked over at Pepper, who was giving him a warm smile that seemed to light up her whole face and just make her infinitely more beautiful than she already was. Tony’s heart stuttered as he was overwhelmed with the love he felt towards both his girls, despite the odd situation that lead to this.

“Do you want to change her clothes and I’ll get supper sorted out?”

Pepper nodded and reached over to take Friday, or _Rowan_ now as they should start calling her. As soon as she grabbed Friday and started to take her from Tony, the little girl freaked out. Friday whined and twisted in her arms, reaching out for Tony to take her back, She reached her arms out and made grabbing motions, tears starting to flow from her eyes.

Pepper’s heart broke and she could tell Tony’s did too. Without even thinking, Tony stepped over and took Friday back. Instantly the little girl buried her face in his neck and gripped his shirt so tightly he was worried she would rip it. Tony felt her tears soaking through his shirt and he instantly brought a hand up to the back of her head and started rocking back and forth.

“Shh, baby girl. It’s ok, it’s just your mama. Don’t you want her to change your clothes?” He whispered soothingly, trying to get her to calm down.

Pepper didn’t know what to think. On one hand, she couldn’t believe how much Tony was thriving in the role of caretaker and comforter, but also wasn’t surprised. She always knew he would be an amazing dad and her heart did a flip hearing him refer to her as the girl’s mom. That also made her want to take a step back, because obviously she must’ve done something wrong for Friday to freak out in her arms like that.

Tony continued rocking Friday in his arms and looked up at Pepper for a moment before looking back down at Friday. “How about both of us change you together, then we all figure out dinner together. Does that sound ok, sweetheart?”

He felt Friday nod and he motioned for Pepper to grab the pajamas Friday picked and they all made their way into the girl’s new bedroom. Tony was able to get Friday to let go of him long enough to set her on the guest bed that they haven’t had a chance to replace with a toddler bed yet.

He removed the sweatshirt he had originally wrapped around her and Pepper stepped up with a pull-up and the pajamas. Together, the couple was able to finagle the toddler into the clothes without too much difficulty and they made their way back into the kitchen and had Jarvis order food from the Thai place down the street.

As they waited for the food, Pepper and Tony, who was still holding Friday because the girl refused to let go of him, sat down on the couch so they could talk to Friday about their plans on how to move forward. When they got situated, Tony was able to convince Friday to sit back far enough that she could both adults. The little girl stared at them both with wide eyes and her thumb back in her mouth.

Tony started to reach for her hand to pull her thumb away, but Pepper caught his wrist and shook her head. “Just leave it for now. It’s a coping mechanism.” She whispered.

Tony nodded and instead intertwined his fingers with Pepper’s then turned back to Friday. “Hey Friday, while we wait for dinner to get here, we need to talk to you about some things, ok?”

Friday gave a tiny nod, to which Tony smiled encouragingly and brushed stray piece of hair off her forehead. “Ok. So Pepper and I have decided what’s going on from here on out. We had to make up a brand new identify you, baby girl, which means a new name. Do you want to know what it is?”

Friday made the connection to the earlier conversation where Tony and Pepper were discussing names. She hadn’t focused too much on what they had been talking about, instead focusing on the task Tony had given her in picking out clothes and the soft stuffed toy she wanted. Instead of trying to repeat the names she heard them discussing, she just nodded.

Pepper leaned over and ran her hand through the little girl’s hair. “The name we chose for you is Rowan Virginia Stark.”

Tony nodded and added, “That means we’re you’re mom and dad now, sweetheart. You can call me Dad or Daddy or any variation of that, and Pepper’s Mom or Mama or other variations. Okay?”

Friday looked between them. Tony and Pepper had been slowly teaching her and helping her build of her base programming since Tony had activated her several years ago. They have been her version of ‘parents’ since the beginning, it didn’t seem so strange for her to call them as such. She gave them both a small smile and nodded to show she understood. She would just have to change her mental programming to respond to the name Rowan instead of Friday. It didn’t sound so hard.

Pepper and Tony smiled at each other. It looked like everything was set. They had a real daughter now, and suddenly they were a family.

_“Sir, the food has arrived.”_

Jarvis’ voice cut through the comfortable silence and set them moving again. Tony motioned for Pepper to take Rowan so he could grab the food. “Come on sweetheart, let’s get you to Mama, so Daddy can set dinner up.”

As Tony handed her to Pepper, Rowan started panicking again. She started whining for Tony again and making grabby-hands towards him.

Pepper tried to comfort Rowan, but the girl wasn’t having it. Tony wanted to take her, but they needed to know why the little girl didn’t want to part with him. He walked over and held her hand out for her to grab, but refused to take her out of Pepper’s arms. “What’s the matter, Ro?”

Rowan just shook her head as a single tear ran down her cheek. She didn’t want to be away from Tony- no, _Daddy_ , her mind supplied. She knew he was safe, no matter how much she trusted Pepper- _Mama_ , she knew for certain that her daddy would protect her. She held his hand with her tiny one in a death grip, but she knew she needed to get them to understand what she meant.

“S-safe” She stuttered out slowly between the whining from the back of her throat. “D-daddy safe” Rowan slowly formed the words, her toddler brain working in overdrive as she tried to calm herself down _and_ work on saying her first words as a human.

Tony and Pepper were both taken aback when they heard Rowan speak. Her voice wobbly and hoarse as she tried to pronounce the words correctly. They glanced at each other before Tony took a step closer, silently putting a hand on Pepper’s back to give her some silent support.

Pepper looked down at her daughter. “What was that, honey?” She asked softly, hoping to coax the girl into speaking more.

Rowan whined again and tried to pull herself into her daddy’s arms when he stepped closer. He didn’t let her though, he just rubbed his thumb over the knuckles of her hand that he was holding. “Daddy safe,” she said, her voice a little stronger this time. “Daddy protects people. He’s safe!”

Pepper pulled her closer and gave Rowan a kiss on her forehead. “Oh sweetheart,” she whispered, laying her cheek on her daughter’s head, rubbing the little girl’s back soothingly.

Tony gave Rowan’s tiny hand a soft squeeze and followed Pepper’s lead with a kiss to his daughter’s forehead. “Baby girl, there’s nothing to be scared of. Your Mama is just as good at keeping you safe, I promise.” He took his free and set it on her head to comfort her. “She might even be better at that than me,” he added with a smirk and wink in Pepper’s direction. To which his wife just smiled and rolled her eyes.

He turned back to Rowan who had put her head down on Pepper’s should but gave him a pathetic sniff and moved to reach for him again. He took a step back and shook his head, but kept ahold of her hand. “No, stay with Mama, honey. We’ll all be together, but you need trust both of us, not just me.”

Rowan knew her daddy was right, but that didn’t mean she wanted to agree. The new onslaught of emotions has just exhausted her again, so she didn’t have the energy to fight. She gave another sniff before turning and burying her head in the crook of her mama’s neck, giving the stuffed dog that she forgot she was holding a squeeze with her free hand.

Tony smiled at how adorable their daughter was and pulled Pepper to his side with the hand he still had on her back. “Come on, let’s go eat before the food get too much colder.”

Pepper gave him a peck on the cheek and followed her husband to the kitchen. She felt Rowan growing heavier in her arms and knew the girl was starting to fall asleep. She gave the girl a gently shake, jostling her awake again. “Stay awake, sweetheart. You need to eat before you go to sleep.”

Tony looked up from separating the food and putting it on two plates. “What time do 3 year-olds normally need to go to sleep?”

Pepper shrugged, not really knowing either, but thankfully Jarvis spoke up.

_“It is recommended that most 3 year-olds get between 10-13 hours of sleep a night.”_

Pepper thought for a moment. “So 8pm sound good?”

Tony shrugged. “Sounds good to me. That means she’ll probably be waking up a little after you each day.”

“That’s fine. She can be with me while I get ready for work, then you can take her after breakfast.”

“Sounds like a plan. Now, let’s dig in!”

The three sat at the table, Rowan staying in Pepper’s lap, half cuddled into her chest, half facing the table. She blinked sleepily and gave a yawn, her tiny nose scrunching up as she did. Pepper gave a small coo, and Tony smiled a warm smile that no-one outside of Rhodey, Pepper, and Peter saw. It was the smile he reserved for his family only and his daughter yawning like a kitten definitely warranted that smile.

They couple ate and introduced Rowan to food for the very first time. She ate off Pepper’s plate and slowly took in the different tastes, either humming in enjoyment or turning her face away in disgust after trying different foods. They both enjoyed watching their daughter explore different foods and her facial expressions of each one. It was a new experience for them, one they both greatly appreciated.

Soon they all finished eating, Rowan finishing first and snuggling into her mother, her thumb once again finding the way to her mouth while she slept. Pepper kept one hand on her head while she and Tony quietly talked as they finished their food.

Tony cleaned up all the food while Pepper kept holding a sleeping Rowan. They both brought her to her bedroom and tucked her into the too-large bed. The couple took turns kissing the girl’s forehead and whispering ‘goodnights’ and ‘I love yous’.

The night was still young for the two of them, so they had Jarvis put a movie on and curled up together on the couch for a couple hours. Tony had never felt so whole and content as he held his wife in his arms and knowing his daughter is asleep just down the hall.

 

Later that night, Tony and Pepper woke up to Jarvis speaking to them around 3am.

_“It appears that young Rowan has awoken in a panic.”_

Tony moved to get up, but Pepper beat him to it. “Let me,” she said, already walking out the door.

Tony sat up and yawned as he waited for his wife to return. Not much later he heard the door open again and he saw Pepper come back with Rowan in her arms. Tony smiled and lifted the comforter up so they could crawl in. They silently settled back into the bed, Tony Pepper holding Rowan between them as the little girl relaxed back into sleep.

After making sure Rowan wasn’t going to be disturbed, he grabbed Pepper’s hand to get her attention. “What was wrong?” He whispered.

“She woke up alone for the first time since all this happened. It scared her and she was crying for us when I walked in.”

Tony hummed, pressing a kiss to Rowan’s forehead. The little girl snuffled and curled closer to him, latching a hand onto his shirt. Pepper smiled at her husband and rested a hand on her daughter’s back, intertwining her fingers with Tony’s.

Today was along day for all of them, but hopefully tomorrow will be easier as the new family of three settle into their new normal.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys are enjoying this! I'm unashamed about the amount of fluff there is and going to be in this series. 
> 
> I also have no plans on where this story is going, so I will take any prompts given to me. 
> 
> I enjoy and accept any constructive criticism and comments are the way to my heart. Have a wonderful day!


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